Portal talk:Main/Archive 2007
This is the archive for discussions on the main page discussion that are no longer relevant. ---- Loose replies and comments We need a category for Starships, probably even a shiplist? Harry Doddema 11:40, 23 Nov 2003 (PST) You may want to feature the Ships link a little better. I couldn't find it at first. Also the sections Episodes and Movies and writing articles are a bit close at a resolution of 1024x768 pixels (I haven't tested other resolutions). That's not to pleasant on the eye's. -- Redge 20:09, 17 Jan 2004 (PST) Possible Layout Changes Working from your idea, Dan, I've also tried my hand at another example page. The layout is a bit different from the conventional. Some comments are also available on this talk page. -- Thunderbyte 00:27, 24 May 2004 (CEST) Hmm.... I think I know what you're saying about the information being "buried," but I'm not sure I like the alternative -- IMO the content looks too crammed in by having the third column turned into the community content. Besides, with all of that text being variable, it might not always match up for the heights. Nevertheless, I've tried a slightly modified version that turns the content into bullet list format -- that would be better for the vertical orientation of the material. However, I'm not sure that I like how the color scheme looks with the panels for the Temp2 example... IMO the partial-width red boxes don't look very good there. I've thought of a possible compromise to address Thunderbyte's concern of the content... what if we removed the "Featured Articles" table and put that on a separate page? That would allow us to expand on the content more and bring the Encyclopedia table up a bit. Would that be more acceptable? -- Dan Carlson 00:55, 24 May 2004 (CEST) I'm assuming that would include the "This month in trek history" cells as well? If that is the case, I think that could work. -- Thunderbyte 01:11, 24 May 2004 (CEST) Well, wouldn't that kind of remove the need for making any changes in the first place? The whole point of proposing any changes was to ADD the Article of the Week feature! ;-) -- Dan Carlson 01:16, 24 May 2004 (CEST) Good point :), though IMO, the large block of text at the start of things in the "Featured Article" table is a bit distracting. I didn't mind the "Useful Links" table, though having only one of them does look better. Another thought, though I don't know as Wikipedia could do this... if there was a way for a user to select which options they saw on the main page (i.e. the featured article table, the "useful links" table, etc.) perhaps this could be done in version 1.3 with the user-styles using visibility properities? -- Just a thought -- Thunderbyte 01:20, 24 May 2004 (CEST) I think Thunderbyte's design proposal for the main page is great. i'm supporting him.--BlueMars 01:29, May 24, 2004 (CEST) I am missing the "Popular Topics", "Wanted Topics", etc.. links. Is it possible to make a sepparte tool-page, or should we just use them through Recent Changes? -- Redge 15:57, 5 Jun 2004 (CEST) See you´ve already cleared that up... -- Redge 20:16, 9 Jun 2004 (CEST) Is there any way that the pictures that are used in Memory Alpha coud be of better quality, they are too blurry when you click on them. Seperate link for starbases/outposts/deep space stations A seperate link to the space stations should be created. It's inefficient to keep that one under the topic "Starships". Purpose of "This month in Trek history" We hardly know any exact dates at all, and stardate converters only give vague interpretations of dates at best. I would rather suggest to relocate the link lists to the top, eventually they are the heart of the mainpage. --BlueMars 18:01, Jun 8, 2004 (CEST) : I added that section when originally setting up the front page because I thought it would be interesting for readers, despite the uncertainties. If several people really have a problem with it, we can find something else to put in that area. I hope you have some suggestions! :-P -- Dan Carlson 18:25, 8 Jun 2004 (CEST) ::Perhaps something like "Did You Know?" from wikipedia or a short list of the most wanted unwritten topics(perhaps only the crucial ones here, like Klingon High Council or Cardassian Central Command) or a brief lists of stubs concerning crucial pages... --BlueMars 19:34, Jun 8, 2004 (CEST) I like that idea. I miss seeing those four lines on the main page -- but I like the "Featured Article" section :) Thunderbyte 03:42, 9 Jun 2004 (CEST) :By all means, keep the "featured article", but do something about this silly "this month in trek history"... ;-) --BlueMars 11:45, Jun 9, 2004 (CEST) Other notes and comments Main page notes, May 2005 * The st-minutiae website directory link under "The fans" is broken. * I'd like to add collectibles link to the main page, whether under "other sources" or "the fans" ** I'd like to change "other sources" to "other media", both to a) make "collectibles" fit better under it as a heading and b) to deaccentuate the fact that these non-canon works are "media" and not "sources" ie sources that might be used here for article material. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 17:32, 10 May 2005 (UTC) :Barring any objections I've made the changes, and also added a link to our Categories, which I feel belongs under Other Features. If anyone objects or has an additional sorting suggestion I welcome it for discussion -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 20:41, 11 May 2005 (UTC) Death notices/Hurricane relief? With all due respect to both Brock Peters and James Doohan, I think it would be appropriate to remove death notices after one week's time. Also, I would like to suggest placing a link to the Red Cross in this space for a short period of time and encouraging donations to the relief effort, as some Memory Alpha editors and users have no doubt been affected by this tragedy. And lest someone accuse me of America-centricism, I would certainly support having temporary links to appropriate charities in the face of major disasters anywhere in the world. -- SmokeDetector47| TALK 02:53, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) * No offense to anyone affected by this, but I oppose the Red Cross link thing and anything about all that. You can go anywhere and donate, and people don't need another place to be reminded of the tragedy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a Star Trek website? The only reason we put Doohan's and Peter's death notices here are because of their importance to Trek. We haven't added information to the articles about this, because it just is not important to Trek, and to Memory Alpha. If you want to donate to the causes, read about the situation, or anything, then do it somewhere else. However, removing the regular death notices after about a week is a good idea. We don't need to be eternally reminded of their deaths. -[[User:Platypus222|'Platypus Man']] | ''Talk'' 03:24, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) **Well, even if we avoid the pitfalls of choosing to post a charity -- i still think that our community's thoughts are going out to the victims, and we could definitely alter the note to reflect that -- with links to any Star Trek related locations affected -- New Orleans, Louisiana, etc -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk ***Altering the death notice isn't a bad idea. It can show the feelings of people here, but I want that to be it. You can go anywhere to donate; we don't need another. -[[User:Platypus222|'Platypus Man']] | ''Talk'' 20:21, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) :Hm... There's no stringent argument against such a notice, and I also agree to the limitation for the death notice, but it shall be two weeks. --Porthos 20:46, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) **I've added a simple note with relevant links to the Trek-related areas affected. I linked to North America instead of United States to avoid nationalism (as we encourage a future, "United Earth" perspective here). **Contrary to what Platypus Man said, i think this is Trek related as we have articles about New Orleans and Mississippi -- and interest in current events translates into interest in those areas, so its a shortcut to people visiting the Main Page who want to read about those Trek universe places. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 21:12, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) Off-Topic, I apologize...Please Help Hello, I am a Star Trek Fan (obviously) And also an aspergers Syndrome geek who is obsessive compulsive over science issues and physics issues with my entertainment. (Raise your hand if you knew that the Enterprise couldn't fly because the propulsion system would force it to go in big fat circles because of being off from the center of gravity...) I am interested in designing the ships that will lead us, hopefully, into a Trek-Like future. Herein lies my problem. I have submitted a proposal to WikiCities, and been rejected allready. (In hindsight, the short sweet and simple method may not have been such a good idea.) I wrote an apeal, which hasn't been answered in 10 days. I am hoping that this is an interesting enough of an idea that you guys would do me a favor and mail Angela, or, Go to the proposed WikiCities page and add two cents. Heres my proposal; --- ---------------------- ThinkStarship Proposal 1.5 Hello, I hope that I am following the intended protocol around here, but where to exactly talk to others is a little vague to me still. Anyways, operating on the assumption that this is how to open a conversation... I am the person who proposed "ThinkStarship". I did it short, sweet, and simple, because that is what the window size screamed at me, and, because I assumed that the idea was sound enough to state simply and quickly, and that you folks are busy enough that you would appreciate that. Let me walk through the Narrative of my experience a bit. I can't find the original proposal, but I will do my best to create it from memory; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Think Starship will have two main and distinctly different primary functions. The first will be to generate Textbooks on almost any given topic, and the Second will be to design and Implement a Space Colonization program with the goal of colonizing most of our solar system within 50 years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allow me now to add a bit to that. Think Starships First function, to generate a batch of Textbooks, may admittedly be served better in some senses in Wiki Books, and overall, I'm not opposed to that, it almost makes sense. However, let us be clear about what I am saying here. This means a list of Textbooks covering at my latest list about 70 Primary Topics, and all of them inter correlated and inter-relative and interlinking. All of those Topics would be explored from the direction and perspective of pragmatic expediency to the topic at hand; Space Colonization. This is not the same, say for instance, as a Physics Textbook, because a standard Physics textbook does not have as its underlying Theme Space Colonization. Were I to start contributing to a Physics Textbook Effort already in progress, I would bet some people would rightly point out that I was putting in strange and obtuse digressions that seemed Extravagant and only vaguely relative. The Same thing applies for say, Sociology. This isn't a Textbook on the topic of Sociology; it’s a Textbook on the Sociology of 4000 persons isolated from the rest of humanity- Permanently. All of that may be somewhat moot, I am willing to admit that Wikibooks may still be the place for those Textbooks, and I am comfortable with that as a final judgment, although I assume that Wiki Books would then have to make some effort to reasonably differentiate ThinkStarships' Texts from the Standard. The second Function of ThinkStarship, (namely designing and implementing a 50 year colonization plan for most of our solar system) Does not even slightly or sort of fit into a futurists WikiCity for a variety of reasons. The first is that ThinkStarship isn't Speculative, and its only real concern with "The Future" as such is the creation and management and implementation of its own plans. The second is that ThinkStarship is a very large umbrella, an umbrella so large that it might eventually open up to contain within it Futurist Speculation, although at first for relevancies sake, Futurism is well outside of the purview of think Starship. Futurist explorations and Think Starships Explorations are two completely different types of interests. One has one foot firmly in the realm of science fiction, speculation, and the realm of the hobbyist. The other is a much more serious, much more pragmatic, much more down to earth type of information, which will have to have very high standards of reality check operating inside of it. Both feet of ThinkStarship must be rooted in Science Fact, or at least, what we can reasonably assume will be Science fact in the very immediate Future. (There are some problems with Space Colonization which are yet to be resolved, the highest order of which are ecological. Given efforts like Wikis' own assorted other efforts, which I have taken a few days now to go look at, most of those problems are already well on their way to being solved if current Wiki trends continue. For instance, a very large database will need to be created, listing all of the organisms that will need to be included in order to have a stable and self sustaining ecosystem, and then all of the chemical inputs and outputs of all of those organisms will have to be charted and mapped. It’s a very simple problem solving process, its just that the database is so huge it hasn't been resolved yet.) I'd like to list the Topics that do fall under the umbrella of ThinkStarship. Computer Hardware, Macro (Large Scale) Robotics, Micro (insect Scale) Robotics, NanoRobotics (Single Cell Scale) Robotics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Ecology Sciences, Brain Anatomy, Physiology, Anatomy, Ergonomics, Plant Biology, Animal Biology, Human Biology, Digestive Science, Air Cycle Science, Artificial Intelligence/ Computer Software, Psychology, PsychoNautics, Sociology, Architecture, Arcologies, Electronics, Photal + Optical Sciences, Magnetic Science, Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Thermodynamics, Hydrodynamics, Aerodynamics, Solar Wind Sciences, Aesthetics, Navigation + Cartography, Basic Mathematics, Advanced Mathematics, Algebra, Calculus, Simulation Mathematics, Linguistics, Syntax, Personnel (Labor Management, Recreations), Personal (Hygiene, ETC), Symbology, Game Theory, Think Tank Science, Educational Science, Law, Ethics, Government, Macro-Process (Interco relation, Multidiscipline map) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That’s off the top of my head; there are more in my notes. Things that DO NOT fall under the Umbrella of ThinkStarship; Science Fiction, Speculation, Religion, Politics (Except where to point out where science falters due to political motivations, and to transcend glass boundaries of paradigms.), Sexual issues (Except in later development, under "Sociology" and "Personal" subheadings), Games (Except in later development to raise funds for the group by generating games based on our objectives, and in the case of game theory as it applies to Simulation.), Recreational pastimes and hobbies (Again, except in later development, under "Sociology" and "Recreation" and "Personnel" Sub headings.) I hope that this clarifies where ThinkStarship is coming from, and what its needs are. Since this is my "Write a detailed proposal" prequel, let me finish with selling the project. What I am offering "Wiki" is essentially a public NASA. The problems of Space colonization are sure to generate remarkable solutions for other problems...This is already the case for the current Space program. Think Starship will have to undergo several dynamic growth stages, including a lot of financial evolution, and I do have several business plans cooked up to raise funds at that stage of the overall plan. Obviously, in order to implement what is designed, mostly here on the Wiki, many other computer and software resources will need to be employed, and the Wiki adventure is a sort of infancy for the Think Starship Endeavor. Thanks for all of your time and energy in this, sincerely, Prometheuspan aka john bassist for ThinkStarship Prometheuspan 01:50, 1 February 2006 (UTC) Prometheuspann 23:07, 10 February 2006 (UTC) Discussion of Main page elements Featured Pages "Did You Know" feature :See Template talk:DidYouKnow I suggest you add the information about Gargoyles to the front page for a while, it's a funny side-note in Trek history that a lot of the major actors happened to work on the same cartoon series. It's arguably the largest single migration of Trek people in history. The wormhole actually did appear on DS9 episode 1:01. However, the comet did not. I verified this when I saw it by bringing up the episode and watching it. :This just isn't true -- both my video and DVD copy of Emissary show a big blue comet at the very beginning of the openeing credits -- and no wormhole at the end of the credits sequence. Emissary being episode 1.01 and the credits sequence being the part where they play the music and list names like Michael Piller and Avery Brooks.. are you watching the same thing?? -- Captain M.K.B. 18:18, 6 April 2006 (UTC) ::The comet was seen in every episode of DS9, it was never removed. The wormhole was not seen in "Emissary", true as well. In the German version of the episode however, they just used the regular opening credits from the series, so in that version , there is a wormhole, even though it has not been discovered yet. This might also be true for other versions of the episode in other countries so maybe this is where the confusions stems from. --Jörg 11:34, 6 April 2006 (PDT) :::It is possible that the user who posted the comment is either German or lieing; they did not sign their comment. - weebiloobil 11:49, 30 July 2006 (UTC) I am almost certain that the entire cast of Star trek Voyager was also seen in The episode: Night, Of the same series as equinox. Around the time when The crew refuses to follow Captain Janeways orders to leave her behind in the shuttle. Janeway walked around the bridge, Tom, Chakotay, Blanna, Tuvok and Harry were all at their normal stations, The doctor, 7 of 9 and nelix were also in various locations. --Archer02 01:33, 22 May 2006 (GMT) "Latest Episodes" feature With Star Trek: Enterprise over, there won't be any new episodes for a while-- minimum of years, so that kinda renders this topic obsolete. I suggest it's removal, and replaced with a general "Star Trek News"-like thing. ie: In the immediate future, it could list the release dates of the special edition of Insurrection and Star Trek: Enterprise Season Two. -AJHalliwell 03:51, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) :Well there are still re-runs for a while, not that those are kept track of here. But it sounds good to me (the change). And, oh boy, Insurrection will be released today! --Gvsualan 04:02, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) :: The Director's/Special Edition I assume? — THOR 05:17, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) :::Correct, a 2-disc SE.--Gvsualan 06:39, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::::I agree to remove the "Latest episodes" features. One possibility would be to simple delete it, another one would be too rename it "Upcoming episodes" to include all sorts of reruns. What do you think? -- Cid Highwind 14:19, 21 Jul 2005 (UTC) Whomever implemented Mr. Highwind's suggestion forgot that The Next Generation is also airing. Makon 04:51, 22 Sep 2005 (UTC) :What about the latest episodes of the remastered TOS? - Cheated-tricked-patted Oct. 1, 2006 ::The new TOS episodes would definitely belong there, that's for sure. Mewtroid 20:53, 2 November 2006 (UTC) ::: They already are, I implemented it several days ago. --Alan del Beccio 22:08, 2 November 2006 (UTC) "Popular Topics" feature What signification does this rubric contain? Let's remove it from the Main Page, which would in turn increase its lucidity. By the way, who decides what articles are the most popular ones? --BlueMars 11:15, Nov 19, 2004 (CET) : was th origin of this feature -- it measures hit count -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 17:25, 10 May 2005 (UTC) ::I agree with the removal suggestion. The Top Ten (as seen on the special page) would be relatively boring to include. Let's use that space for something else. -- Cid Highwind 14:22, 21 Jul 2005 (UTC) : I suggested a "Newest Articles" area that could replace this, but I also think that using a selection from the top 50 popular pages (excluding movies and series) would be okay for this. Logan 5 15:25, 8 Dec 2005 (UTC) : What the * is this? Popular topics? Remove this crappy feature! Punked 30 March 2006 "Unwritten Topics" feature Is the unwritten topics template on the mainpage really necessary? MA/en has more than 10000 articles, unwritten topics are mostly characters, who appear only in one episode or other not very important topics. I think it is better to take a stubs template on the mainpage, because there are a lot of short articles in the database. -- Batrox 14:10, 16 May 2005 (UTC) :I agree, but I think we should have both. Perhaps get rid of "Popular topics" if we need room--Dalen 17:18, 27 May 2005 (UTC) ::i object -- A simpler solution to maintain the spirit of the "Unwritten topics" section is to use it like we used to -- and not list more than one type of unwritten article in the template. listing an unwritten character, planet, actor or publication is possible -- there's no rule saying which unwriiten topics should be chosen. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 06:13, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC) :::The "Unwritten Topics" feature (here and on "Recent Changes") tends to generate stubs mostly. I generally don't like it, but that's another discussion. What's the general opinion about that feature? Is it really necessary on the main page, or should it be (re-)moved? -- Cid Highwind 14:25, 21 Jul 2005 (UTC) :::Remove it/replace it with the stubs. --Porthos 20:55, 2 Sep 2005 (UTC) Another issue: Heart Attack is listed, but it is a written topic, complete with blue link and article. Article of the Week :See Template talk:ArticleOfTheWeek Encyclopedia Technology In Main Subject Divisions The following was placed in Ten Forward, but somebody archived before I got an answer -- how infuriating. A less mature person would use name calling at this point. Anyway here: --Captain Mike K. Barteltalk ;Excerpt from Memory Alpha archive :I noticed that you have a page called technology, which lists some forms. You have other pages that list things like: Military, Propulsion, and other types of specified tech. (under a diffrent heading which only covers some of the general divison) All the specified forms do not cover all topics. The remianing ones are on the page titled, "Technology", which can not be aceesed from the main page. Also, the heading "Science and Technology", does not have any tech under it. The label is incorrect. For oginization's sake, and for an easier way to move aroud MA, We could fix this problem by doing one of the following things: #Have one page called "Technology", with subdivisons under it. Rename "Science and tech" just Science. #Have diffrent areas of technology listed under what is now called the "Space Travel and hardware section", incldue the links from the current page, "Technology" and rename the catagory, "Technology" Then we can Rename "Science and tech" just Science. (unsigned) ::I think there's some value to this proposal, its something that has crossed my mind. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 14:39, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC) Suggest a Category If anyone has any ideas for what kind of topics and categories we want to have on the front page, suggest them here! -- MinutiaeMan 07:37, 8 Dec 2003 (PST) I think a uniform catigory should be under either Races and Cultures or Government and Politics. -Philip ::If we are going to use wiki categories, I suggest we replace the links on the main page with Category:(title) links. -- Redge | ''Talk'' 15:58, 3 Sep 2004 (CEST) ::I'd like to suggest adding the List of arts and music under the "Society and Culture" header. -- EtaPiscium 06:23, 9 Sep 2004 (CEST) ::I think it'd be a good idea to have a list of space stations/planet-based installations under the "Space Travel and Hardware". Right now there's no centralized list for both Federation and alien fixed installations (specific names and classifications) like there is for starships, and finding them's pretty difficult. -- EtaPiscium 18:22, 9 Sep 2004 (CEST) ::I think Category:Starship classes should be added under Starships under the "Space Travel and Hardware" header --Dalen 16:01, 18 Mar 2005 (EST) Redge, that's a good idea to implement -- eventually. I think it would be better to have the categories established first and have them populated with material before we remove the old links. Otherwise we'd risk orphaning a whole lot of pages... EtaPiscium, that's a good idea. I'll add that myself right now. :-) -- Dan Carlson | Talk 13:20, Sep 9, 2004 (CEST) I suggest adding sensors under either "Space Travel and Hardware" or "Science and Technology". -- EtaPiscium 08:49, 23 Sep 2004 (CEST) Suggestions for new Main page elements Perhaps a picture of all the captains? I know it's a fan clichê, but it'd brighten up the page. Also, links to all the series and films under such a picture.Gul Reid 21:27, 21 Jul 2005 (UTC) Something like this: I don't know. Maybe, some images on the main page might really brighten up the page. --Memory 22:23, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) :Seems like a reasonable idea to me. Maybe if there's a way to rotate a single pic area through all four of them, that would be good.--Sheliakcorp Talk 13:09, 19 December 2006 (UTC) ::You might try somthing like this at Portal:Star Trek. --Bp 10:49, 20 December 2006 (UTC) Newest articles? How about an area for Newest Articles (excluding users and talk pages)? Logan 5 15:23, 8 Dec 2005 (UTC) :Might be a good feature, but is there some sort of template to automatically include the newest article at any given moment? Doing it manually obviously can't work. -- Cid Highwind 17:02, 8 Dec 2005 (UTC) Probably not one currently, but could it be created a la the Unwritten Topics template? Logan 5 14:52, 9 Dec 2005 (UTC) :Well, the "Unwritten topics" list needs to be changed manually as well. It's not a problem in that case, because it isn't much more than 1 change/day. However, "Newest articles" would need to be changed whenever a new article is written, which can't be done manually. The only realistical way to approach this would be an automatic template like , which should at any time be resolved to a link to the newest article. -- Cid Highwind 15:17, 9 Dec 2005 (UTC) ::No way to generate a template or list off of ? Logan 5 15:35, 9 Dec 2005 (UTC) :Not one I see at the moment, I'm afraid. The only clean way would be to request that feature from the MediaWiki-developers, then wait until it is implemented and MA updated. An ugly work-around would be to create a bot that reads the "Newpages" list and updates a template accordingly, but I would advise against it. I might be missing something, though - perhaps a variable like that already exists and is just not listed with the others on ? -- Cid Highwind 16:05, 9 Dec 2005 (UTC) Other notes and comments Popular pages The popular pages on the main page are different to the popular pages listed . How often is it updated? Excelsior 18:23, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC) :That's a manual selection, anything special you want to change? --Memory 20:58, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) does no longer exist, so I suggest to remove this section, it's no longer to monitor. --Memory 21:53, 18 January 2006 (UTC) How often is the main page updated? It's been weeks since my regular visits and I'm still looking at Michael Dorn's face on the main page. Perhaps a weekly update would keep things fresher? Just a suggestion! --LancasterII, 23 February ::There is no set time for anything - if you want something done, feel free to take initiative. You can go to the talk page, and make a suggestion for an update, and it's likely it will be implemented. Jaz talk | novels 00:51, 24 February 2006 (UTC) Feedback Very intresting wiki site!... Thanx! --213.228.84.66 17:57, 15 Oct 2005 (UTC) White text on a black background? Most disturbing and off putting. Uncyclopedia parodies Memory Alpha Uncyclopedia's front page has been temporarily redecorated today to parody Memory Alpha. Congrats! Plus I started this. Live long ans prosper! --Nerd42 17:51, 22 Nov 2005 (UTC) *interesting... -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk ::Isn't it though? --Nerd42 02:02, 25 Nov 2005 (UTC) Minor layout change The idea posted below was suggested to me by Vedek Dukat. The following was copied directly from what was posted at my talk page: ---- :I was gonna ask you to implement a minor change to the main page, but perhaps it would be better to get some sort of community input first? I don't know - it seems minor to me. Anyway, here's the thing: In the Encyclopedia area, we have "Other Features" and "The Fans" sections, the latter having only Trekkie in it. What about switching the two (so logically Other Features would be last, since it's... well, other stuff) and changing "The Fans" to "For Fun" or something similar, then adding the following to it: :*I'm a doctor, not a... :*Parodies :*47 :There was actually more I had in mind, but that's as far as I think we could go without needing input, votes, or whatever. What do you think? --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 07:34, 29 Nov 2005 (UTC) ---- I have posted his idea here so as to gain community support before implementing any changes to the layout of the Main Page. Personally, I think it's a good idea, but I'll wait and see what everyone else thinks. --From Andoria with Love 08:08, 29 Nov 2005 (UTC) :This is a good idea, if for no other reason then because most people don't know that our little "extras" (especially the parodies page) exist. What I meant by the other changes was a covering of the fan films and such, because even the newly formed French Memory Alpha has more on that than we do. --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 05:00, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) ::I like the change, especially the fan films part, which is an area I've always wished MA would cover (it is after all about "everything related to Star Trek). And I am among those who did not know about the parodies page prior to reading this. Another great idea, Vedek! :) --Broik 16:06, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) I would also like to see Memory Alpha:Babel mentioned somewhere, as I don't think most people know about it. Narco 18:25, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) Support --Memory 20:58, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) Support Sloan 21:01, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) Suggested additions to main page * link to production timeline, **especially upcoming productions (possibly in conjunction with "latest DVDs" - -which could/should be "latest releases" so we can add new games, tapes, self-sealing stem-bolt merchandising, etc *maybe a "this month's birthdays kind of template", * link the subheadings: people, technology, etc.. to any articles which may be considered "top-level" in these cases. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk :Moved to bottom, I think we can implement this with the stuff from above. Btw: anyone noticed the overhaul of the German MA Main Page? --Memory 20:58, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) ::Yes, it puts us to shame and is quite impressive. Sloan 21:00, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) Main Page/temp (now obsolete) What do you guys think of this? It's really uneven with the DVDs, Popular Topics, Unwritten Topics, AND Did You Knows all stacked against the AotW - normal Wikis only have a paragraph for the FA/AotW, but our layout would necessitate way too much. The other thing is the "Trek and Culture" part because a) the parodies page isn't really linked from many obvious places, b) the "Trekkies" link looked lonely, and c) we're expanding lately anyway, so why not let the trend continue. Weyoun 07:04, 8 Nov 2005 (UTC) — Weyouns version :Another thing to support (Hm, it's really time for a refit...) --Memory 21:16, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC) I think we need some way to integrate the Article of the Week into a panel-like area the way the German version, Wikipedia, Star Wars Wiki, etc. all do. I'm not sure how to go about this though. --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 01:45, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC) — Vedeks version :I'm not sure how to do it either. Think the German MA folks'll feel like sharing? I also don't think we needed to move the Popular Topics and Unwritten Topics to the right side. Everything else, however, looks great! --From Andoria with Love 05:58, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC) Ok, Broik did another test, I tried to regard all suggestions from above, discuss it or try your own. --Memory 14:03, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC) :I think the pictures of each crew are a bit much in the current temp page. Also, we need to figure out a way to put the Trivia and Article of the Week sections in their own boxes. --From Andoria with Love 20:53, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC) ::If you really want to implement boxes that must be done for the whole page, otherwise it will be unbalanced. That's a big change - we need some more to second that. --Memory 21:25, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC) Changes & suggestion Does anybody have any thoughts or comments on the recent changes to the Main Page? I kinda like the way it looks myself, but that's just one little Andorian's opinion. :-P Anyway, I also have a suggestion should the "News and Updates" stay the way it is: I think we use this section not only for updates on DVD releases, but also for other news pertaining to Trek, such as news about new movies or TV shows, as well as deaths and marriages. I'm not sure yet how we would handle that, but that's why I'm putting it here to be discussed. :) --From Andoria with Love 21:14, 28 Dec 2005 (UTC) Collaboration of the Week I've posted this on Ten Forward as well. I think a big problem with MA right now is that while we are all willing a make little changes, nobody really wants to do the major work on something like an episode summary, or major event (ie Earth-Romulan War, and Babel Crisis) I think a partial sollution would be to create a Collaboration of Week on the main page. It would be the main focus, and after a week is replace with another major page needing attention. Jaz 02:30, 7 Jan 2006 (UTC) :I took the bait and overhauled the Earth-Romulan War. :) Aholland 22:48, 5 February 2006 (UTC) IRC alert It has been suggested to me by Matthew Fenton that we post an alert on the main page for a few days telling people about the new Memory Alpha IRC channel. Because the "chat" link is already in the navigation bar at the left, I don't feel this is particularly necessary, but others may find it useful. What do you guys think? --From Andoria with Love 19:48, 24 January 2006 (UTC) :Umm, if they don't notice the link on the navigation bar it seems unlikely that they'll notice this... Then again, I guess things on the nav bar do blend together sometimes. I don't know, it couldn't hurt. --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 01:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC) Trek News I have a suggestion... since the "Did You Know" section has not been changed since Jesus Christ walked the Earth, and since they're just random bits of trivial info that we appear to be running out of, I thought maybe we could replace that template with one for news relating to Star Trek and those involved with the franchise. This would entail things such as upcoming Trek productions and events, releases for DVDs, books, and games, updates on what Trek cast and crew are doing, death notices, marriages, etc. What does everyone think about that? --From Andoria with Love 19:32, 31 January 2006 (UTC) :Definitely gets my support - remove "Did you Know", add something like "News", and perhaps merge that with the template for DVD releases while we're at it. Shran, perhaps you can already create that template and link it here to show everyone what might be the future content? -- Cid Highwind 19:40, 31 January 2006 (UTC) Example Here's an example of what this template might look like: What do ya'll think? (Go ahead and make any modifications you see fit to the layout). --From Andoria with Love 20:02, 31 January 2006 (UTC) *Looks excellent, and love the colors. I've been waiting awhile for the 'Did you Know' section to be updated, but this would be even better. It has my full Support. - Adm. Enzo Aquarius 20:19, 31 January 2006 (UTC) :*I agree about the colors, but as Cid pointed out on IRC, we need to find out some kind of color code to match the news items with (i.e. blue for cast/crew news, green for studio news, yellow for production news, black for death notices, red for marriages, etc.) The colors were Cid's idea, btw. ;) --From Andoria with Love 00:00, 1 February 2006 (UTC) Just a hint: we already have a news section on the mainpage, it's currently filled with outdated DVD releases (which should be removed completely). If you want to put the news on it, please use this section. I oppose to the removal of the Did You Knows, if we can't find someone to update them we should change the mode to a monthly rotation filled with the material of the archive, it's still interesting for new guests visiting the MA. --Memory 00:41, 3 February 2006 (UTC) This is a great idea so long as someone is willing to keep it up to date. I don't want this discussion to fade into obscurity - we need to either move the DYKs to the current "latest DVDs" section or put news in that section. It would seem like news comes before trivia, but at the same time, I think it's a lot easier to keep trivia updated than news. I might start the project Memory hinted at if I get time - I'm already planning a way to salvage the Did You Know process. --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 20:08, 6 February 2006 (UTC) :If this is approved, I will certainly try my damndest to update it. Also, I would think that news takes prescedence over trivia, but that's just one little blue-skin's opinion. :P --From Andoria with Love 20:10, 7 February 2006 (UTC) In Defence of the Did You Knows? I love the Did You Knows, because very often a couple of of them I didn't. In fairness it is updated less than a feature like that demands, but instead of removing it, why not halve it in size. The Did You Know Trivia would go further and its a welcoming element on a page for Trekkies that aren't as knowledgable sa the rest of you. In addition, I think a news page would inevitably become US based and while yes if Sarah Silverman gets her own sitcom it is of minor interest to a Trekkie, I bet the news page won't give me a heads up when its on in the UK. The wonderful thing about the content of Memory Alpha is that its written from the most inclusive stance, and the front page could do with reflecting that. Igotbit 10:31, 8 August 2006 (UTC) Discussions? Should we add a link to important discussions on the main page (e.g. AoTW, Votes for featured articles, votes for deletion, etc.)? These would attract more people to these discussions and there may be more votes all in all. :) --Galaxy001 22:28, 4 February 2006 (UTC) :No. Most of these discussions require you be an active member for at least a week, so it's not really necessary. Jaz talk | novels 22:35, 4 February 2006 (UTC) ::So you think it would attract non-activists? That makes sense then... --Galaxy001 22:42, 4 February 2006 (UTC) :::We do have links to some things on the recent changes page, but I think people who are interested will find most pages relevant to them, e.g. AotW is linked to on MA:FA, which is linked to on the main page. There are a few pages, such as MA:CS, which are pretty obscure - but in the case of CS, I raised the issue on IRC a little while ago and now it's under "utilities" on the recent changes page. If there's anything you think should get more attention somehow, feel free to bring it up on Ten Forward or IRC. --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 01:26, 5 February 2006 (UTC) Whopper 1 I think adding a question mark after Did you know would be best, its not a run on sentence, and it would be more organised. Whopper 00:16, 8 February 2006 (UTC) Shatner note I added a note about William Shatner's birthday, its formatted to be removed at the end of the day. -- Captain M.K.B. 15:23, 22 March 2006 (UTC) :Removed. -- Cid Highwind 09:15, 28 March 2006 (UTC) Fix Spanish lk I'd do it, but I can't edit the main page. Under the different language MAs, the Spanish link needs to be changed to http://memory-alpha.org/es/wiki/portada. -[[User:Platypus222|'Platypus Man']] | ''Talk'' 13:30, 27 March 2006 (UTC) :Those links can be edited via Template:International. However, there seems to be something wrong with the "es" prefix - we could add a direct link as suggested above for the moment, but I'm not sure if we should. -- Cid Highwind 09:16, 28 March 2006 (UTC) Banner announcements I think it might be time to adopt some sort of policy for the use of those banner announcements... condolences after the death of major actors/production personnel are okay, but I think recent ones might be going a little overboard... ;) -- SmokeDetector47( TALK ) 03:04, 31 March 2006 (UTC) :As my first official action, I concur. Besides deaths, since they're kind of sudden and implied, should a mini-vote be made? Policies though, definitly. (Hm, I wonder which recent ones you are speaking of?) (Thanks though blue skin) - AJ 03:12, 31 March 2006 (UTC) ::I think he's also referring to our inclusion of wishing William Shatner a happy 75th birthday, so it's not just me. :P Anyways, I guess banner announcements should only be used for deaths. (And you're welcome, pink skin. ;)) --From Andoria with Love 03:36, 31 March 2006 (UTC) :I was thinking things like birthdays, etc. would work quite well in a new box similar to what Shran proposed above, since the "Did You Know" box is not frequently updated and it's somewhat difficult to find appropriate ones and write them. Something like "Recent events" or "Current events" or "Star Trek birthdays" or "This day/week in Trek history" or something like that... as long as the community keeps it relatively up to date, that is. :) But I feel only messages that are important enough to be the first thing someone sees when visiting Memory Alpha should be death notices of major individuals or some other really, really important announcement like the upcoming 40th anniversary or the launch of a new series/movie. -- SmokeDetector47( TALK ) 03:58, 31 March 2006 (UTC) :::User:Florian K has a bot that takes information from the Memory Alpha archive and places them on templates. This should in time make it no longer necessary to update our daily templates in MA/de. MA/en is much larger, so the bot could really find something here -- Kobi - [[ :Kobi|( )]] 08:59, 31 March 2006 (UTC) ::::I, too, think that we should banner announcements sparingly, if at all. With a possible "News" section and perhaps a "Today in Trek history" feature as suggested, there wouldn't be too much left to be placed in an extra announcement. Perhaps we could simply start a "calendar" template and see where that brings us. Naming suggestion: "Template:Calendar/MM/DD". Via / }}, information about the current day could then be included somewhere. Today would then be: Template:Calendar/ / . -- Cid Highwind 11:37, 31 March 2006 (UTC) ::Oooh, a calendar template. I like that idea. :) --From Andoria with Love 02:35, 11 April 2006 (UTC) Main page suggestion :User:Cid Highwind/Main Page Given the discussion above, I decided to post this suggestion here, although I'm still working on it. It already makes use of some features that are still being discussed, namely "portals" (see MA:TF), a weekly DYK template (see Template talk:DidYouKnow) a news section and a "Daily history" section (see above). Anything below the heading "Old one" is, obviously, the current main page, which would later be removed. Feel free to comment here, on the other relevant discussions or the talk page of that suggestion. -- Cid Highwind 11:48, 31 March 2006 (UTC) :Any comments on this suggestion? -- Cid Highwind 20:28, 10 May 2006 (UTC) It looks good. Although I hope you would keep the content of the bottom parts of the current main page. Like "Encyclopedia" and "Community". It also incorporates the suggestion from TF about putting the language links in a more prominent location. --Bp 20:34, 10 May 2006 (UTC) ::I like the idea, however, I feel that news will tend to be out dated. I think we should go with your idea, but have a back-up (ie picture of the day) for when we are short on news. Jaz talk 20:38, 10 May 2006 (UTC) Spanish Memory Alpha Could someone add the spanish memory-alpha link to the main page? vandalism on main page Ugh! Will someone fix that?--Kchisho1970 22:01, 29 April 2006 (UTC)! And please ban whoever the is sicko that put that up!--JDB ::Wikipedia protects the images on its main page. I think we should do the same. Jaz talk 22:38, 29 April 2006 (UTC) Memory Alpha Link on BSG Wiki Because of the commonaility between Ronald D. Moore with both Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, we added you to our main page under "Friends". http://www.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page (On the Bottom). :) --Shane 20:20, 21 May 2006 (UTC) Language We should put a template at the bottom of the page that told all our languages and had links to them. Do we have a version in Klingon?--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 22:53, 10 June 2006 (UTC) :There are links to other versions both in the sidebar and at the bottom of the page already. No one's started a Klingon version yet... -- SmokeDetector47( TALK ) 04:55, 11 June 2006 (UTC) Ron Moore archive Some of you may remember Ronald D. Moore's chat sessions while he was working on DS9. I don't think his behind-the-scenes perspective has been incorporated into Memory Alpha yet, but here is a link to an archive of his posts.--StAkAr Karnak 19:17, 18 July 2006 (UTC) in the press Is it worth showing the readers that memory-alpha was in the NY Times - how cool is that? http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Wikia_in_the_news#July_2006 Gil (talk) 04:00, 9 August 2006 (UTC) ENT Did you know? The entry regarding "Broken Bow" is incorrect. Williams was a Commander, not an Admiral. Can someone fix it? --Kevin W. 02:32, 11 August 2006 (UTC) :It says on the main page that "In a Mirror, Darkly" was the 700th episode to be hour-long. Funny, since there are only 500 or so ST episodes altogether. :: Let's do the math: 79/80 TOS + 178 TNG + 176 DS9 + 172 VOY + 98 ENT = 700+, (you could also add to that + 21 TAS + STM) --Alan del Beccio 22:18, 5 October 2006 (UTC) :::703/704 of the live action TV episodes all together (darn you Alan, beat me to it). --OuroborosCobra talk 22:24, 5 October 2006 (UTC) :::: I cannot see how I made such a miscalculation. Still is does not explain how you can say it is the 700th hour-long episode when, to my knowledge, all episodes of Star Trek are around 45 minutes long. Perhaps this is me, opening the proverbial can of worms. --Optrirominiluikus 06:54, 6 October 2006 (CET) :::Oh come on now, that is just being overly nitpicky. Sure, they are about 45 minutes of footage, but they air on TV over a one hour period due to commercials. The term is still "1 hour program", due to how they air. That is what the industry means when they say "1 hour drama", or "30 minute drama", it is how long the program takes up air time, including commercials. --OuroborosCobra talk 05:00, 6 October 2006 (UTC) ::Ah. Ok. --Optrirominiluikus 15:45, 6 October 2006 (CET) Majel Barrett's Did you know "...that Majel Barrett Roddenberry shares a writing-story credit for..." Surely that's 'story-writing' not 'writing-story'!Ehdee 00:44, 23 August 2006 (UTC) DVD Releases For STar trek the animated series there is no region release date, however if you visit the official star trek dvd site (http://www.startrekuk.co.uk) and click on the release schedule they hav it slated for release on December 4th. Munnp001 16:51, 23 August 2006 (UTC) :And that (region 2) release date has been confirmed by the new Star Trek Magazine. --Jörg 16:55, 23 August 2006 (UTC) In a Mirror, Darkly portion the "pre-credits sequence" is properly referred to as the "teaser". Deevolution 23:14, 12 September 2006 (UTC) Memory Beta? Those friggin non-cannon scumbags ripped our name! Isn't that some sort of infringement? Just thought I'd bring it up...--CaptainCaca 23:23, 12 October 2006 (UTC) :The name "Memory Alpha" comes from something in Star Trek (see Memory Alpha), so it would not be infringement at all. In addition, Memory Beta (by the way, in the future, it would be a good idea to provide a link yourself) is the non-canon Star Trek wiki. That does not make them scumbags. They are covering something we are not, the information from the novels and such. THere is nothing wrong here. --OuroborosCobra talk 23:31, 12 October 2006 (UTC) ::As a scumbag administrator from "Memory Beta", I must admit that I my heart has been well and truly warmed by the support shown from fellow wikipedians. We are in the selecting a new name from the wiki based on a choice of Memory Beta or Memory Prime. There are two reasons for this (1) we recognise the success that "Memory Alpha" has been, and see our wiki as an extension that features Expanded Universe information, as stated by OuroborosCobra, and (2) both the names have been mentioned both on-screen and in print. ::So we are not rip-off merchant's, we are simply complementing the excellent work done here on Memory Alpha. Some users have expressed some concerns about this practise, as several users from MA have come over and called our wiki "quaint" and "less-real". I didn't share these concerns until today. How sad :-(.--The Doctor 00:02, 13 October 2006 (UTC) :Please do not take the opinion of one disgruntled member as the opinion of all, or even a large number, or even a small number of us. I have a great deal of respect for what you guys do at your wiki. The only reason I myself do not contribute there is that I do not have any of these novels, and not that many of the games, and therefore do not have the knowledge. What you guys do is not less "real" (how can two things that are both fictional be more "real" than one another anyways), just covering a different area. --OuroborosCobra talk 00:07, 13 October 2006 (UTC) ::Don't get me wrong, we have had some contributers from Memory Alpha that has been very helpful with the wiki, and by no means take the opinions of a few to be held by all, it's just dis-heartening when you read such comments. I'm aware that the wiki had been abandoned for over a year and could be regarded as some sort of joke. But know we have some new administrators and members who are really picking the wiki up, and we would love to gain the numerous contributers you have here to help improve our database. Over the last 9 months we've moved from having 1,000 articles, to nearly 6,000 and continue to grow. :-).--The Doctor 00:17, 13 October 2006 (UTC) :::Indeed, CaptainCaca that almost qualifies as a personal attack, if you could be a little nicer to visitors it'd be appreciated. And as stated, both come from episodes of Star Trek; how should we feel if one of the TOS writers (the one in question has probably passed, I fear) came by and said "ugh, these scumbags copied off the name of that planet we did." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in this case shows a unification among Trekkers that is... I dunno, good. (P.S.: A cannon is a weapon that shoots projectiles.) - AJ Halliwell 00:53, 13 October 2006 (UTC) Links to German MA Could someone please change the links to the (supposed) German memory alpha from /pl/ to /de/? (on the main page and in the lower left section) Thanks :This is a known issue, which will be fixed once Wikia's developers find the time. Thanks. -- Cid Highwind 15:56, 9 November 2006 (UTC) ::Now, that's ridiculous ... Please change the link. Today is Nov 18th and the link is still wrong. -- 85.176.117.96 13:05, 18 November 2006 (UTC) :::It is better to fix the specific problem. As has been said, this needs to be done by the Wikia developers, not Memory Alpha editors or admins. Be patient. --OuroborosCobra talk 13:06, 18 November 2006 (UTC) Main_page Why was Main Page moved? Looks slightly odd without the H1 -- also.. anyone scrolled to the bottom of this page recently :-\ MatthewFenton 12:20, 24 November 2006 (UTC) :I moved the page - to remove the H1. That could have been done in other ways, but since we have that working for portal namespace anyway, and the Main Page is a portal page, I chose to do it that way. About removing the H1 itself, don't you think it looks slightly silly (at least superfluous) if the welcoming page says "Main Page - from Memory Alpha"? Removing that H1 has become standard on most big wikis by now, probably for exactly that reason. -- Cid Highwind 12:46, 24 November 2006 (UTC) Encyclopedia Rubric Can we have this back? It was a very efficient and fast method of finding almost anything with a minimum of effort, slick looking too. It was helpful, so why did we ditch it? Also do we really need Two search fields on the same page?? -- Foravalon 22:46, 15 December 2006 (UTC) :This stuff is going to be in the Portals that are linked in the "Browsing MA" part. That is still being worked on, see Portal:Main/Prototype with Panels. Those Xes will be replaced with some icons for each topic. Also, The double search, we might make the Main Page full width (no left side bar). At least that is an idea, but even if not it will probably stay. --Bp 06:13, 16 December 2006 (UTC) more loose Sombody hacked the main picture of quark before it became a featured article.... someone should fix it. Also, The Voyage Home was the last film to not have Herman Zimmerman involved. The late Jack T. Collis was the designer there. Mr. Zimmerman worked on all films from Star Trek V through Nemesis. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956717/